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Smartphone Controlled Arduino Tank Using Annikken Andee

Introduction: Smartphone Controlled Arduino Tank Using Annikken Andee

Hi guys, I am Robin, one of the developers of Annikken Andee. Just a few weeks back we were invited to be a part of Arduino Day Singapore 2014. On the day of the event, we showcased a missile-firing lego-crushing smartphone controlled Tank built using our Annikken Andee.

It was a big hit with our audience and many of them have enquired on the making of the Tank. We wanted to share our Tank making knowledge with the Instructables community. So to get you in the seat of a POTENTIAL TANK COMMANDER, I am going to give a step by step guide on creating the Andee Battle Tank, or ABT in short.

Step 2: Assemble the Zumo Chassis

The base of the ABT is built using Pololu Zumo Tank kit. It is designed for Arduino Uno/Leonardo and, therefore, fits Annikken Andee perfectly well. What I like best is that the entire set up (Zumo Shield, Andee and Arduino) can be powered by 4 x AA batteries found below the chassis. This means that I do not need to mount an external battery pack to power the ABT.

In this guide I will not be mentioning much about the assembly of the Zumo Chassis as user Qtechknow has already made a comprehensive guide on Zumo Tank Assembly. You can also visit Pololu Official page for the documentation. Just don't arm the metal plate that comes with the Zumo Kit; ABT uses speed as its defence, not armor =)

Female header for The Turret After the Assembly, solder the 2.54 mm Female Pin Header to the pin 2 and ground hole on the Zumo Shield. We will be using Pin 2 of the Arduino to fire the missile.

Step 3: "Hack" Annikken Andee

Coincidentally, Zumo Shield and Annikken Andee both uses Pin 8 to communicate with Arduino! (Great minds think alike?) This poses a problem for Arduino as he is unable to differentiate the source of the communication (Andee or Zumo?). To get around this problem, we are going to do a little hack

Modify Annikken Andee

Wait, what is Annikken Andee? Annikken Andee is a bluetooth shield that allows for easy communication between your smart phone and your Arduino. As it comes with the Andee Arduino library and the free downloadable Andee App for your smart phone, you do not need to develop the app. You can create the UI all via your Arduino codes.

What we are doing here is to reroute the communication from pin 8 to 4. You can also try pin 1,2,3,5,6,7 if you want. But because I like pin 4, I am going to use pin 4.

Step 1) Desolder R30 R30 is a 0 Ohm resistor that you can find on the underside of Annikken Andee. Taking it out severs the connection between the leg of pin 8 and Annikken Andee.

Step 2) Connect Annikken Andee to Pin 4. Using a piece of short wire, short-circuit the copper base which previously house the 0 Ohm resistor of R30 to the leg of pin 4. This way the communication between Andee to Arduino will be done via pin 4, and not pin 8. Check out the picture above for reference.

Instruction for Annikken Andee for IOSWe are going to use pin 5 to communicate.

Step 1) Sever the link of Digital Pin 8 to Andee MCUUse a penknife and carefully cut the link between the two plates at D8.

Step 2) Connect Annikken Andee to Pin 5Solder the two plates onto D5.

Step 3) call Andee.begin(5) instead of Andee.begin() in the Sketch (NOTE: Need to edit the sketch)

Step 4: Turret (Missile Launcher)

WLToy's V959-19 missile turret is a rare find indeed. It was meant for their quadcopter to shoot projectiles at unsuspecting target. It can hold up to 6 missiles at any time and its missiles travel at up to 100 km/h. A direct hit from the missile can instantly decimate a T34 at its strongest point.

With lack of online documentation of this fearsome weapon, the following is my understanding based on trial and error. The Yellow and White wires is connected to the DC motor behind the turret. As the motor rotates, it will trigger the mechanism to release a missile.The Red and Black wires will short-circuit every time the missile's release mechanism is triggered. However for simplicity sake, we are not using this 2 wires for the project.

The missile launcher's wires originally uses 1.25mm pitch header, which obviously doesn't fit the 2.54mm Pin header Arduino uses. Therefore, we need to carefully cut the 1.25mm header connected to the yellow and white wires and replace it with 1x2 2.54mm male pin headers. Just remember to insulate the exposed copper and solder with insulated tape!

What to do with the Red and Black Wires? Since we are not using the red and black wire pair, tuck these 2 wires somewhere below the turret. We might still need them in another project. Who knows? =P

Step 5: Putting Together the Tank (がったい！）

ABT is effectively made up of 4 components. The Zumo tank, Annikken Andee, Arduino Uno/Leonardo and the turret. With the individual components done, let us put them together!

Does it work with Apple Iphone/iPad/iTouch? Yes! But you will need to use Annikken Andee for iOS. check it out here

(After-Thought) As you can see, we are currently using the slider UI to control the tank movement. Personally I think it will be more instinctive to have a Game Controller UI instead. After all we are controlling an AWESOME COMBAT TANK THAT SHOOTS REAL PROJECTILE! I will make sure this happens =)

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11 Comments

At the moment, the easiest way to control the launcher is via the DC motor. The missile are basically spring loaded. You will feel/hear a soft "click" sound when you push the missile into the barrel. The function of the DC motor is just to trigger the mechanism to release the latch holding the missile in place.

the Launcher uses a simple DC motor, therefore polarity doesn't matter here.Yes you can simply set the digital pin to HIGH on the yellow wire and the white wire to ground to fire the missile.

Hey man! Awesome instructable! I didn't make the tank, just wanted to know how to wire this missile launcher, after long researches I found this, finally! So thank you very much :DJust a little question: is there any way to slow down the firing? If I connect the yellow/white wires to 3.3V and a button, as soon as I shortly press the button it fires at least 3 missiles...that motor is so fast =/

@zhangzy: thanks! Yup, Andee is a great solution for tinkerers like yourself to integrate smartphone with hardware projects. I am certain that you will like it. The missile? i manage to get it from aliexpress at US$8 (free shipping). Wait what? you manage to get the missile launcher set at US$2? *ouch* >.< ORZ

@Enjoying Electronics: Really?! what a coincidence! Time to update your wallpaper with this new one :PPS: the hack on the 9g servo is pretty interesting, will try it out =)

Nice Job! I've always wanted to control my arduino via smartphones, but have difficulty learning the programming. Annikken Andee seems to be a nice solution to my problem. Love your humor about the missile~ BTW, how much did you get the missile? it's surprisingly cheap in China, only 2 dollars.